


Thank You

by digitalsoop



Category: Free!
Genre: Gen, bordering on flat out reigou, free ended one month ago just think about that, i wrote this one month ago, reigou friendship, right after the premiere of episode 12 basically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-30
Updated: 2013-10-30
Packaged: 2017-12-30 21:57:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1023855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/digitalsoop/pseuds/digitalsoop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What should have happened at the end of Free! but didn't. </p><p>Gou finds Rei after the swim meet.</p><p>Cross posted from Tumblr</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thank You

**Author's Note:**

> I had to write this through my tears at the time, it was pretty rough.

"Rei! Wait a second!"

He lifted his head and closed his book, turning and scanning the sidewalk behind him. There weren’t many people left at the pool, now that the excitement from the tournament had wound down. Gou would have been easy to spot even if there was a crowd, with her red hair and yellow shirt. She was jogging up to him, clearly winded. He tucked his book back into his bag, brow furrowed. “How far did you run?”

"Not far." She put her hands on her waist, gasping. Her face was completely flushed, and she was clearly having trouble swallowing.  He raised an eyebrow, but didn’t point out it looked like she had been running for miles.

"I sprinted all the way down here—I was talking to Chigusa and the others—you had all snuck away! I’m glad I caught you."

"Should I call the others?" He looked over his shoulder, where the rest of the team was walking towards the bus. He nearly jumped out of his skin when she reached out and took his hands. He turned his head too fast, sharp pain shooting up behind his ear, but he wasn’t able to give it much thought.

Her hands were tightly squeezing his, her shoulders hunched and her head bowed. “Rei. Thank you for letting Rin swim.”

"Gou?" He bent over slightly. There were people glancing at them as they walked by, and his ears started to grow hot. She laughed slightly, lifting her head just enough for the tears on her face to become obvious. He lifted her hands, squeezing them. "You’re crying!"

"S-sorry, I’m just—I’m so relieved. I always thought that—that my brother would be okay if he could swim with everyone again, but that wouldn’t have happened without you. I really owe you. We all do."

He took a deep breath, biting his lip. If his hands weren’t busy holding Gou’s, he would have been desperately adjusting his glasses just to hide his face. “You don’t owe me anything. It was the right thing to do.”

"I can still be grateful." She smiled up at him, tears stuck to her eyelashes. "You’re tearing up!"

He nodded solemnly, blinking. “Because you’re crying.”

She laughed, pulling her hands out of his grasp. She stood on her toes, throwing her arms around his neck. He hunched over, adjusting his glasses and glancing around before carefully putting his hands on her back. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears when she tightened her grip, her tears rubbing off on his cheek as she turned her head and kissed it.

"I’m so glad you joined the swim club, Rei. Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

The heat had spread from his ears all the way down to his neck, and when she finally unhooked her arms from his neck he absently touched his cheek. He cleared his throat, bowing his head slightly. She didn’t seem to mind that one of his hands was still on her back. “Thank you—I mean—you’re welcome. And thank you. For the uh… thanks.”

They smiled at each other and then Gou slipped out of his reach and waved, jogging to catch up to Chigusa and the others.

He still had his hand pressed against his cheek when he boarded the bus. 


End file.
